I remember now.
Suddenly for no reason the memory
Jumped the queue in my brain,
Pushing its way to the front.
I pictured my friend and I...Pals.*
Walking along those storm-swept cliffs,
Seven Sisters beneath our booted feet.*
Cagoules drawstring tight against the howling wind
Hail and rain smacking us both in the face.
We were the victims of bullying,
Being different not allowed.
We knew we had vision,kindred spirits,we had gifts.
At that school camp,that most depressing of regimes
Ground us down though never to dust
For breaking away from the rear of the party
We struck out into the storm
Not knowing where we were
Or where we were going.
We didn't care either,we were too busy laughing
At the thought of red-faced teachers and angry policemen
Conducting their searches in such weather.
We walked for miles that day...
White cliffs below us,the churning sea racing by us
And black troubled skies over head.
Troubled times came our way arriving back at nightfall
But I wil never forget that first taste of freedom.
Already close, our friendship became closer in those hours,
Forged in defence against a world of fools.
Bitter tears sour the happy memories now,
For everything we went through together stopped suddenly
In a tangled wreck on a motorway slip road.
I lost in that moment my belief in justice
But never my memories.
They are packed away along with his hopes and dreams.
These I still carry in my soul.
* See poem 'Pals' on website.
*Seven sisters are a cliff range in Sussex,England